Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having a job that does not use one's skills or provide enough work: Describes a person who is working, but in a position that requires less skill, education, or experience than they possess, or who is working fewer hours than they desire or need for full-time employment.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Many recent graduates feel underemployed, working in jobs that don't require their degrees.
  • The report highlights that a significant portion of the workforce remains underemployed, seeking more hours.
  • She is an underemployed engineer currently working as a retail clerk.

Advanced Usage

• The underemployed (noun, plural): Used with a definite article to refer to the collective group of people who are underemployed.
  • Policymakers are concerned about the growing number of the underemployed in the economy.

Variants and Related Words

• Underemployment (noun): The state or condition of being underemployed.
  • The high rate of underemployment indicates a mismatch between workers' skills and available jobs.

Synonyms

• Underutilized: Not used to full potential or capacity.
• Part-time (when seeking full-time): Working fewer hours than a standard full-time schedule, specifically when more work is desired.

Different Meanings / Contexts

• The term underemployed specifically refers to a mismatch in the labor market. It is distinct from unemployed (having no job) and fully employed (having a job that adequately uses one's skills and provides sufficient hours). It often implies economic inefficiency and personal underutilization.

Adjective

1. employed only part-time when one needs full-time employment or not making full use of your skills
   • migrants are likely to be poor and underemployed
   • able people are kept underemployed